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The Critical Theory of Jurgen Habermas

Jurgen Habermas is widely considered as the most influential thinker in Germany over

the past decade [1970!0"# $s a philosopher and sociologist he has mastered andcreatively articulated an e%traordinary range of speciali&ed literature in the social

sciences' social theory and the history of ideas in the provocative critical theory ofknowledge and human interests# His roots are in the tradition of German thought from(ant to )ar%' and he has been associated with the *rankfurt +chool of critical theorists

which pioneered in the study of the relationship of the ideas of )ar% and *reud#,

-)e&irow' 19!1.

Habermas' Three Generic Domains of Human Interest

Habermas differentiates three primary generic cognitive areas in which human interest

generates knowledge# /hese areas determine categories relevant to what we interpret as

knowledge# /hat is' they are termed 'knowledge constitutive' they determine the mode

of discovering knowledge and whether knowledge claims can be warranted# /hese areasdefine cognitive interests or learning domains' and are grounded in different aspects of

social e%istence work' interaction and power#

Work Knowledge

ork broadly refers to the way one controls and manipulates one,s environment# /his iscommonly known as instrumental action knowledge is based upon empirical

investigation and governed by technical rules# /he criterion of effective control of reality

direct what is or is not appropriate action# /he empiricalanalytic sciences usinghypotheticaldeductive theories characteri&e this domain# )uch of what we consider

'scientific' research domains e#g# hysics' 2hemistry and 3iology are classified byHabermas as belonging to the domain of ork#

ractical Knowledge

/he ractical domain identifies human social interaction or 'communicative action'.+ocial knowledge is governed by binding consensual norms' which define reciprocal

e%pectations about behaviour between individuals# +ocial norms can be related to

empirical or analytical propositions' but their validity is grounded 'only in theintersubjectivity of the mutual understanding of intentions'./he criterion of clarification

of conditions for communication and intersub4ectivity -the understanding of meaning

rather than causality. is used to determine what appropriate action is# )uch of thehistoricalhermeneutic disciplines descriptive social science' history' aesthetics' legal'

ethnographic literary and so forth are classified by Habermas as belonging to the domain

of the ractical#

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!manci"atory Knowledge

/he 5mancipatory domain identifies 'self-knowledge' or selfreflection# /his involves

'interest in the way one's history and biography has expressed itself in the way one seesoneself, one's roles and social expectations. Emancipation is from libidinal, institutional

or environmental forces which limit our options and rational control over our lives buthave been taken for granted as beyond human control (a.k.a. 'reification'. !nsights

gained through critical self-awareness are emancipatory in the sense that at least onecan recogni"e the correct reasons for his or her problems.'(nowledge is gained by self

emancipation through reflection leading to a transformed consciousness or 'perspective

transformation'.5%amples of critical sciences include feminist theory' psychoanalysisand the criti6ue of ideology' according to Habermas#

#igure $% Habermas' Three Domains of Knowledge &after Tinning $(()*